The remote community's library is visited by people in search for many things including books to read, a person to chat with, or a seat in which to take advantage of the air-conditioning and free wi-fi.

It has a small collection of non-fiction, but employees believed its organisation based on the Dewey Decimal System may have been creating more work than it was worth.

"It never seemed to make sense when I was visiting here," said Carol Stableford, who looks after libraries run by the East Arnhem Regional Council.

"There were just books that weren't in any way relevant to what local people wanted.

"I find that people mainly want books about their communities — by Indigenous people, for Indigenous people."

Maeva Masterson, who visits remote libraries through her work with the Northern Territory Library, recalled being puzzled by the need for signs explaining what the categories of fiction and non-fiction meant.

"When I talked to the community library officers, they explained to me that the concepts of fiction and non-fiction were largely absent in their community's culture," she said.

Developed by the Northern Territory Library and East Arnhem Regional Council, in consultation with the local community, the culturally-sensitive method is expected to promote reading and improve people's connection to their local library.

It effectively closes the book on the Dewey Decimal System — a globally-used library classification system that groups reference books according to their relation to a broader subject, such as technology.